What Blood Work Can Find That an Exam Cannot
Blood work answers the questions an exam can't. Blood Work and Lab Testing in Windermere, FL is available through our Windermere care center for dogs and cats, with results from an in-house laboratory during the appointment.
What Blood Work Can Find That an Exam Cannot
An exam reads the outside of an animal: coat, eyes, ears, lymph nodes, heart sounds, gut sounds, weight, and body condition. Blood work reads the inside: kidney function through creatinine and BUN, liver enzymes indicating stress or disease, thyroid hormone levels, red and white cell counts, platelet numbers, blood glucose, and protein levels.
The value in Florida's heat is real. Heat-related illness damages the kidneys first, and the damage isn't apparent on exam until it's advanced. A dog who came in looking well after time outdoors and left with a clean exam may still have a creatinine that's climbing. Similarly, a pet moving to this climate from somewhere cooler sometimes arrives with a subclinical thyroid condition that was undetected because the signs overlapped with normal behaviour in a cold winter.
The in-house laboratory runs complete blood counts, chemistry panels, urinalysis, fecal flotation, and ear and skin cytology. Results are available during the appointment, which means treatment decisions are made on current data rather than waiting for an outside lab. Blood work before anesthesia is always required here. Call (689) 220-0228 or book online at Petfolk Veterinary & Urgent Care - Windermere, 4757 The Grove Dr #148, Windermere, FL 34786.
Frequently Asked Questions
Blood Work Lab Testing